Now, I have a lot of time for Persela. Small town but they regularly sell out their Surajaya Stadium. But for them to be getting the largest crowds in the east is a sad indictment of clubs like Persebaya for example.

It was not that long ago Persebaya pulled in 55,000 for a game with Arema in the old IPL. Their last home game, against Persipura, was just over 1,000! Their supporters don't see Persebaya on the field despite the green shirts and the famous badge. They see Persikubar, a team parachuted in from East Kalimantan to satisfy people's personal ambitions.

So, unlike in England for example where fans upset by new owners limit their protest to the odd march or twitter outburst, Persebaya fans stay away.

PSM and Persiram have different reasons for their pitifully small average crowds of 617 and 188. PSM are playing their home games in Surabaya, far from their home city of Makassar while Persiram call Sleman, a suburb of Yogyakarta, home for this season.

But Persipura are only averaging 7,000 plus, well down on other seasons I think. What is all that about? Are the fans concentrating on the AFC Cup?

The above numbers come from the ISL's mid season review. If you wish to read the whole thing, and it is well laid out and easy to understand, then check out the Liga Indonesia website.

Persis And PSIS Neck And Neck In Group 4

Selected results from Divisi Utama

Deltras v PSMP 3-3 1,650

This sounds like an absolute cracker of a game...unless you are a Deltras fan! They were 3-1 up with 13 minutes to go but goals on 85 and in injury time by Alain Nebie earned the visitors a point. Deltras remain rooted to the bottom of Group 6 without a win while this was PSMP's fourth draw of the season and they sit mid table.

Persiku v Persis 2-2 5,123

Group 4 is where it is at and if you are anywhere near Semarang this Saturday I strongly suggest you get down to Jatidiri Stadium to catch the top two, PSIS and Persis in action. There have been some disappointing crowds in the top flight this season but this is likely to be a full house with a large travelling support.

Biggest Crowd Of The Season Sees Arema Held By Persib

Biggest crowd of the season saw the home team forced to come from 2-0 down to earn a draw against a Persib team that does seem to have the hex over them. Arema have only dropped seven points all season...five have come against Persib!

Persebaya v Persipura 1-1 (Emmanuel Kenmogne; Boas Solossa) 1,234

In another time, another place, this game would have filled the Bung Tomo Stadium. Both teams are challenging for the title. Both teams play open attractive football. And both coaches have coached both teams. But it ended a draw in front of a crowd that could have fitted into, and on, one commuter train.

Going into this game, Persija had scored just 13 goals in 12 games and obviously that situation needed remedying if they were to mount a sustained challenge for the top four places and the play offs later in the year. They bought in Foday, a man whose reward for hitting five goals in an AFC Cup tie, was to be replaced by Persipura! Mind you, Persija were only playing Persijap who have looked poor all season.

Persiram always have this kind of win in their locker. Despite being slightly off the pace in recent weeks, they remain a tough nit to crack you just knew this was going to be a tough ask for a Persela side with title ambitions of their own.

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Travelling JDT Fans Complain Of Poor Treatment In Singapore

SINGAPORE - They came from across the Causeway to enjoy a football match.

But the 150-odd Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) supporters who travelled to
Singapore to watch their team's Malaysia Super League (MSL) match
against the LionsXII at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Tuesday, claim that
overly-stringent security officers turned their trip into a farce.

Most of them ended up watching a portion of the match on their mobile
phones outside the stadium, JDT fan Zaman Nuri Hassan, who runs the
"Luaskan Kuasa Mu Oh Johor Ku" Facebook fan page, told The New Paper
yesterday.

Five Malaysians - a woman and four men - were arrested before the
match for disorderly behaviour. They are out on bail and investigations
are ongoing.

Mr Zaman said many JDT supporters were agitated when security
officials at Jalan Besar told them to stay inside their buses even after
they arrived late at the stadium.

He said the fans, who were in five buses, had left Larkin Stadium at
3pm, but were held up for almost two hours at the Woodlands Checkpoint
as their buses were inspected.

After arriving at the stadium at 7.45pm - the kick-off time - they were made to wait even longer.
"We were already late, but they still wouldn't let us get off the bus," said Mr Zaman.

"The doors of the bus were opened, but they didn't let us go anywhere. We couldn't even leave the bus to pee. There was a mixture of security officers, some in all-black attire,
some in yellow vests and some people in plainclothes taking pictures of
us. Some of us saw it as provocation. For 30 minutes, we were forced to
sit in the bus and just wait."

In response to TNP's queries, a police spokesman said: "The buses
arrived at Jalan Besar Stadium late. The arrangement was for the buses
to take turns to drive to the 'away' fan gate for alighting (and) the
away fans would then be facilitated to enter the stadium to watch the
match.

"The fans waiting in the buses were advised not to leave the buses as
this would have caused further delay to the drop-off process. "There
was a delay that night for the fans to enter the stadium as the liaison
from the away fans were sorting out the ticket arrangements."

Mr Zaman claimed he was among the first busload of JDT fans to be allowed into the stadium.

By then, it was the 35th minute of the match, which JDT eventually won 3-2 through a controversial refereeing decision.

But that was not the end of the drama.

During the second-half, a large number of JDT fans began streaming out of their designated area at the stadium.

"At that point, we heard that three busloads of our supporters were
not allowed into the stadium despite having tickets," Mr Zaman said.

"So we decided to boycott the game as a form of protest and to show unity with our fellow JDT fans.
"All of us left the stadium, and we watched the game on our mobile phones on the Astro On The Go website."

The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) said the Malaysian fans
who were turned away "were not holders of tickets to the rightful and
appropriate fan seating sectors".

At this point, some supporters became unruly after being denied entry.

In one video that has been making the rounds on social media, some
fans can be seen aggressively shouting offensive words at Cisco officers
outside the stadium, with one screaming "kecut" (cowards in Malay) at
them. In the same video, another fan is heard shouting in Malay: "We
need to pee! We're hungry! Thirsty! Why are we here?" Security officers
can be seen boxing the supporters in with white rope, which incensed
them further. Mr Zaman said it made the fans feel "like animals".

"The rope was used by Cisco as part of their crowd-control plan," a police spokesman said.

"The police officers were helping to maintain order among the fans
who were walking to the stadium without any tickets while their liaison
was sorting out the tickets. The fans were advised to go back to the
buses to wait as they would not be able to enter the stadium without
tickets."

It is understood that some of the JDT fans had tickets, but they were for seats outside the designated area for away supporters.

A local football fan, who declined to be named, told TNP: "This type
of strict security is a one-off. I have many friends from Malaysia who I
sit with at LionsXII games, and there's always no problem."
Referring to the away supporters who became unruly, he said: "I think
it's just a case of the JDT fans getting upset at being unable to enter
after buying tickets meant for Singaporeans."

Singapore Cancel Malaysia Friendly

SINGAPORE - The match between Singapore and Malaysia at the new
Sports Hub’s National Stadium on Aug 8 has been postponed and
rescheduled to a later date.

In a statement issued today (May 24),
Football Association of Singapore (FAS) General secretary Winston Lee
said more time was needed to prepare for the staging of the fixture (yeah, cos three or fours years just ain't enough time), and
that the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) had been informed.

“The initial response to the game has been very encouraging,
confirming our belief that a Singapore-Malaysia game will always be a
major crowd-puller,” he said.

“Given the high turnout expected,
and to ensure a truly memorable experience and spectacle for every
spectator, FAS has concluded that it will need more time to prepare for
the event.”

This means the match between Italian Serie A champions
Juventus and a Singapore Selection on Aug 16 is set to be the first
football match to be held at the 55,000-seater National Stadium after it
is completed next month.

Friday, May 23, 2014

Singapore Cup 2014

Four foreign teams as usual will join the fun this season. From the Philippines we get Global and Loyola Meralco Sparks while Cambodia has Naga Corp and Svay Riang. Laos' Champasak make up the foreign legion though I should of course point out DPMM, Albirex Niigata and Harimau Muda are also of course pretty foreign!

For those who know their way around an abacus, you will notice there are five additional foreign teams entered...Young Lions aren't entering this year.

DPMM Suffer Rare Defeat

There is an air of confidence around Choa Chu Kang these days. The Warriors are sensing a return to the glory days that saw them dominate the SLeague for so many seasons.

Formerly known as SAFFC, I ain't writing all that down again, in their glory days they won the SLeague four straight years and won the Singapore Cup twice. An impressive haul yet you wonder why the architect of that team, Richard Bok, is not coaching another team.

But Alex Weaver, who was treated pretty shockingly last season at his last club, has quietly assembled an experienced squad and they have been quietly picking up points, tucking themselves in quite nicely behind the leading pack..which is of course DPMM.

After a recent 4-1 loss to Home United and a thrilling 3-3 draw with champions Tampines Rovers, Warriors fans may well have gone into the game with the current leaders with some feelings of trepidation. They needn't have worried.

They was to be no Arsenal style implosion, Warriors equipped themselves very well thank you and won 1-0 against Steve Kean's Brunei team. Hafiz Rahim scored the only game half way through the game and DPMM were unable to find an equaliser, slipping to only their second defeat of the season.

The three points took Warriors into second place, just four points behind the leaders.

Persipura Top Of Western Conference

Mitra Kukar enjoyed some 24 hours at the top of the table but now it is Persipura's turn after they defeated Persiba Bantul 2-0 with two goals within the first nine minutes. Just 1,117 saw the game...what is that all about? Why are Persipura fans turning their back on the team?

In yesterdays other game, Persija were held 1-1 at Gresik United, another team whose fans are staying away...just 2,150 saw this game.

When you factor in Persebaya fans boycotting their 'team', and Persiram and PSM being forced to play outside their own cities you gotta wonder just what is going on at those football clubs.

The average attendance across the ISL is still over 10,000 but there is a marked difference between the eastern and western conferences.

Former Referee Says Aceh Is A 'Jungle'

The fall out from the death of Persiraja's Akli Fairuz continues with the goalkeeper who kicked him in the stomach saying the kick was 'unavoidable' and not 'violent'. Just check out the video and see if you agree with him or not.

Meanwhile, a former Indonesia referee has said that match officials do not enjoy doing games in the province of Aceh. Persiraja were playing PSAP, a local derby in the province, when the incident happened.

Jimmy Napitipulu said 'It’s like a jungle in Aceh. There are no rules. That’s why all referees
always refuse when they’re assigned to Aceh. Players can do whatever
they want.'

Noor Hadi Leaves Persijap

Indonesian football clubs are nothing if not brutal. It is the transfer window and clubs around the country have been ruthlessly breaking players' contracts to make way for new signings.

As mentioned previously, Osas Marvelous has signed for Semen Padang from Persiram.

No surprise that it is the clubs at the bottom of the table who have been busiest.

Bottom placed Persijap have allowed local hero Noor Hadi to leave. The striker has signed for Barito Putra and such is often the way, his first game for his new club will come against...Persijap! In has come former Persitara midfielder John Tarkpor after a spell outside of Indonesia while Carlos Raul Sciuatti has also made the move.

One of the busiest teams has been Persiba Bantul. Ezequial Gonzales and Wahyu Widjianto have returned after spells at Semen Padang while Stevie Bonisapa has made the same journey.

PSM have released Robertinho and Mario Costas, bringing in Mamadou Diallo from Persih while Gresik United have also been busy, bringing in Gustavo Chena and Pedro Javier among others to try and reinvigorate their disappointing campaign.

Arema Lose First Home Game Of Season

Arema lost their first home game of the season after they went down 2-1 at home to Semen Padang. New signing Osas Marvellous scored twice for the visitors while Alfarasi hit a late consolation for the home side.

In unrelated news, the attendance at the Kanjuruhan Stadium was just 4,549. Recently, when Arema hosted Persija, there were more than 33,000. They are averaging more than 15,000 for the season and took several thousand to Jakarta for an away game.

All of a sudden they stay away from a home game?!

Mind you, Wednesday was an all round day of poor attendances.

Sriwijaya defeated Persik 2-0 thanks to goals from Vendry Mofu and Syakir Sulaiman in front of just 5,723. Normally, the Palembang side attract bigger crowds but the team has not been doing so well this season so fans have been staying away.

Mitra Kukar returned to the top of the eastern conference after they beat Persepam 3-1 in front of 2,300.

In Wednesday's other game, Perseru drew 1-1 with Persiram in a Papua derby played out in front of an impressive 275 people!

Persebaya Thump PSM While Persib Held In Bandung Derby

Persebaya made it three wins in their last three games after they brushed aside PSM at the Bung Tomo Stadium in front of a meagre 1,300 fans.

ISL top scorer Emmanuel Kenmogne hit two to give him 11 for the season and making him the leading scorer in the league for the season. Greg Nwokolo and Lestalahu hit the others to make it 10 goals in their last three games for the Green Force.

Despite the good form on the pitch, the fans are staying away. Many of them see this Persebaya as not the real thing, instead being another club, Persikubar who were just parachuted into Surabaya.

Persib were held 2-2 by Pelita Bandung Raya at Jalak Harupat in the Bandung derby. Although perhaps it is a derby only in a geographical sense. The crowd has about half the attendance when Persib hosted Persija, a game that both teams see as their own classico

In a game of seven bookings, Persib took the lead through Tantan only for full back Wildansyah, Bandung born and bred and a former Persib player, to equalize in injury time.

Kim Jeffrey Kurniawan restored PBR's lead in the second half only for Ferdinand Sinaga to leve the scores with seven minutes to play.

The point helps neither team, Persib still nine points off first placed Arema.

In Monday's games, Persela were held to a 2-2 draw by Pusam at the Surajaya Stadium. Addison Alves had the home side 2-0 inside 23 minutes only for the visitors to pull goals back by Lerby and Naser Al Sebai.

It was the first time Persela had dropped any points at home this season.

Persijap were defeated 2-0 at home by Persita in the battle of the celler dwellers on Monday. Jalwandi and Sirvi Arfani did the damage for the visitors and the win allowed them to pull away from the relegation places.

Said it before, will say it again. Persijap are doomed and their fans obviously think so...just 1,500 turned up to see them lose their fourth home game of the season.

Persipura Drop Striker Who Hit Five Goals In A Game!

Indonesian football can be a ruthless place. Put it this way, Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger would never have lasted as long as they did here...they would have been out withing weeks of winning nothing.

Aaron Ramsey, Theo Walcott and Abou Diaby would have been released from their contracts rather than have them clog up valuable space in the physio room.

Take Persipura's Eddie Foday Boakay for example. Last week, the striker hit five goals in Persipura's 9-2 rout of Yangon United in the AFC Cup.

Now he has been dropped by the club as they juggle their squad ahead of the second half of the ISL season as well as AFC Cup commitments.

Persipura Hit 9!

This game needs to be investigated by the AFC. You know, them with the zero tolerance towards match fixing yet they allow Ninh Binh to carry on even though they had withdrawn from the VLeague.

There may of course be nothing wrong with this game but we will not know until it is looked into.

Kitchee v Arema 2-0

Two goals in the first nine (that number again!) did for Arema at the Mongkok Stadium where they at least had the consolation of several hundred fans cheering them on. Arema fans - Indonesia's finest export?!

Disappointing Friendly Crowds

Last Sunday, Persija were involved in a high profile friendly with Dutch side Ajax. A fairly well known team I would imagine. Yet the crowd was given as a meagre 20,000.

Yet Persija's last home game, admittedly the Woodstock Love In against Arema, attracted double that figure!

Ajax's next game came against Persib at Si Jalak Harupat Stadium in Soreang, West Java. That attendance was given as 8,000. That number was on a par with Divisi Utama crowds at Persipur and PSMP played during the week.

Persib's last game, against Persija, saw some 27,000 turn up.
During the same week, Persis hosted PSIS in Divisi Utama and over 18,000 fans turned up to see PSIS defeated for the first time this season.

Then we had an Indonesia U23 team play Dominican Republic, their full national team, in front of a reported 200 fans at the 88,000 + capacity Bung Karno Stadium.

Yesterday, it was announced Pelita Bandung Raya would play a friendly against Europa League winners Sevilla 22/5 at Jalak Harupat Stadium.

Now PBR are not the biggest club in the country. Far from it.

The danger with this game is that the crowd on the evening will be, in short, bloody awful. PBR only draw crowds of more than 2,000 to their home games is when they host Persib.

The club and the promoters should do everything in their power to get some bums on seats...all the talk of the passion the fans have for the game here will mean nothing if Sevilla walk on to the pitch in front of a near empty stadium.

The least PBR can do is get round the local schools and give out some free tickets for the kids.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Singapore Is Where It's At

Singaporeans love to mock their local football. They say it is rubbish yet they will quite happily put on Chelsea shirts and celebrate a bus in the goal mouth.Irony, eh?

The last couple of nights have thrown up some spectacular football, not that you'd know if you read the local papers. Popular stories tend to be about Mourinho's latest spat.

Take Thursday, for example. Two games, 12 goals with one of them going viral.

Let's start with Tampines against Warriors where the goals came in pairs. Warriors were two up with two goals in three minutes halfway through the first half.

Tampines fought back with two goals in three minutes early in the second half.

Then, in the last minutes, two own goals to end the game 3-3. The sort of game coaches hate but fans, in other countries, love. You know when English TV shows highlights from a game years back? If there was some similar thing in Singapore, this would be the type of the game that would feature.

On the same night, Geylang International suffered their first defeat under coach Jorg Steinbrunner. While Albirex Niigata fans may look back fondly on their 4-2 win, the result is not the reason why fans around the world have become aware of this game.

Last night, DPMM took advantage of the Tampines draw to move seven points clear as they defeated Tanjong Pagar 4-0 in Brunei. Roy O'Donovan continued his scoring streak, hitting a brace, while Antonio Rodrigo Tosi and Shah Razen hit the others.

Tosi and O'Donovan, ex Hartlepool and Northampton Town, now have 21 goals between them out of DPMM's 30.

In last night's other game, Hougang United defeated Balestier Khalsa 2-1.

Jakarta Casual Podcast

Finally...it has taken almost five months but my first podcast is up on Soundcloud.

In it I sit down and share a beer with Brendan Schwab, a senior official with FIFPro, actively involved in supporting the creation and development of an Indonesian footballers union. And god knows, they need one!

I enjoyed the chat immensly andI hope you enjoy the interview.

I hope that rather than just have me drone on and on about things, I can get to sit down and talk with people in and around the game in the region to provide more insight to the beautiful game in the beautiful region.

PSM Players Threaten Strike Action

In the wake of the recent APPI (Indonesia Players Union) legal conference in Jakarta earlier this week, evidence there is still much work to be done on the ground.

PSM players are reportedly threatening strike action over unpaid salaries, which they have not received for almost three months.

With PSM second bottom of the eastern conference of the ISL, just two wins and three draws from their opening 10 games, wags might suggest the players have been on strike for most of the season!

Coach Rudy Keltjes seems unperturbed. 'I came to Makassar to coach. If players want to miss training, what can I say?' Which really sums up the role of the coach in this part of the world, compared to say, a SAF, Wenger or Mourinho.

PSM have been forced to play their home games in Surabaya this season, which means the club have had to fork out cash on facilities in the East Java city and play in front of an almost empty stadium since the ISL deemed their usual stadium in South Sulawesi not up to standard.

When they take these decisions, surely the ISL has a duty to find a better alternative...something a bit closer to home. They can't just say 'oh, you can't play in Makassar, go to Surabaya' and wash their hands of the consequences.

Persib, Persija Ends All Square

Persib v Persija 0-0 26,978

Indonesia's very own classico ended all square in front of the normal all singing, all dancing crowd. Despite the fact that peace had supposedly broken out between the two sets of supporters, Persija fans traveling by road to the game were stepped and asked to return home. And apparently their were some incidents on the toll road that connects the two cities.

The game itself is often second to the occasion and Benny Dollo's men probably took to their armoured personnel carriers after the game with a sigh of relief after a performance that surely cemented Andritany's reputation as one of the best keepers in the country.

One of several East Kalimantan derbies, Pusam took the lead on eight minutes through Spasojevic, his seventh of the season, but Soler took just two minutes to equalise. A late penalty secured the victory for Persiba meaning a happy journey home for their travelling support.

It was Pusam's first home defeat of the season and they sit uncomfortably just one place and one point off the relegation places. It was Persiba's first away win and they climbed out of the relegation places to sixth.

Perseru v Persipura 0-0 700

This is what I don't understand. This was a Papua derby played at Persipura's Mandala Stadium yet no bugger turned up?! What's that all about? The champions may have started the season slowly but they have been involved in AFC Cup duty and they remain unbeaten in the ISL. Indeed, the only team to remain unbeaten.

They sit third, just two points off the leaders, Mitra Kukar so are hardly out of the title race. Yet they play in front of a near empty stadium?

APPI Hold Legal Seminar As Clubs 'Drop' Players

The Indonesia Players' Union, along with FIFPro held a legal seminar yesterday in Jakarta and very interesting it was to. I did an interview with FIFPro's Brendan Scwab so I won't go into too much detail about what happened at the meeting.

There was though an interesting bit about club's breaking players' contracts without 'just cause'.

In other news, Persepam MU have announced they are dropping 10 players. That is after winning their last two home games under new coach Arcan Iurie.

10 players out, halfway through the season! The club are waiting for new arrivals to trial for the privilege to join the football club. Dunno about you but I am not sure I would want to play for a club that feels it can just drop half its squad halfway through the season, just weeks after ditching the coach. The word stable doesn't spring to mind, even here.

Sriwijaya have dropped Iranian defender Vali Korsandipish.

Hold on...is there a link between the first paragraph and the third? Hmmm

Monday, May 05, 2014

PSIS Continue Divisi Utama Winning Ways

Persikad v PS Bangka 0-0

Group 2 leaders PS Bangka could not break down a stubborn if uninspiring Persikad at the Merpati Stadium in Depok. For the home team they have drawn all five of their league games, scoring just twice. For the leaders, these were the first dropped points this season!

PSIS v Persitema 4-0

While Persikad struggle for goals and points, PSIS are on a roll. This was their fifth win of the season...from five games and their 13 goals scored make them the top scorers in the Divisi Utama. The crowd? 12,500!

Arema Remain Top Of ISL

Indonesia Super LeaguePersija v Arema 0-1 (Gustavo Lopes) 39,763

Ok, so it wasn't quite the 30,000 travelling fans predicted on the web last week but still the largest crowd this season at Bung Karno for the game between these two sides. Despite the passion on the terraces, this is no classico...more a Woodstock Revisited considering the close relationship between the fans of both clubs.

Arema stay top of the table after a controversial penalty, aren't they always, while Persija lost their second game in the last three.

For Persija, attention will no doubt return to their misfiring strikers.

Semen Padang v Gresik United 1-1 (Airlangga; Kacung Munib) 6,372

For a team with play off ambitions, Semen Padang can't afford to keep dropping points against lower placed teams like this. Gresik are struggling to pull away from the relegation places yet they led for two thirds of the game, Airlangga equalising with 10 minutes on the clock.

When a team with a good home record clashes with a team boasting a poor away record, results like this are always a possibility. It could have been oh so different after Asri had given the home team the lead. Sahroni scored twice within a minute and Barito Putra were in the lead. They kept the lead till half time but Sriwijaya hit back with two goals in nine minutes after the break to set up their own three points

Persita v Persijap 4-0 (Kenji Adichihara 2, Sirvi Arvani 2) 967

Whither next for Persijap? Just four points all season and pointless on their travels this season. Last week they finally replaced coach Raja Isa, replacing him with Evaldo, their experienced Brazilian defender, but he doesn't have much to play with and without a serious injection of funds, which have not been forthcoming, the club are dead certs for relegation.

Persiram v Perseru 0-1 (Yoksan Ama) 125

Another team to replace their coach, Perseru took three points from this Papuan derby played in Sleman, Java!

Saturday, May 03, 2014

BuGils FC International Soccer 6s

It may be a World Cup year and the focus of many football
fans will be directed towards Brazil but that doesn’t mean Indonesia will be
quiet these coming months.

Apart from anything else, Ajax Amsterdam are coming to town
to play a couple of friendles in Jakarta and Bandung against Persija and Persib
respectively while the Indonesian national team has a couple of games on the
horizon.

First up is a fund raiser for victims of the Philippine
typhoon last year when Indonesia play an ASEAN All Star XI. Then they head to
the Central Java city of Solo to play the mighty Dominican Republic.

In addition, there will be teams packing their toothbrushes
and shin pads to compete in one of the most eagerly awaited competitions on the
expat calendar.

The BuGils FC Soccer Sixes is now in its second season and
surely qualifies as the longest running football competition named after a bar
that no longer exists in the whole of South Jakarta.

20 teams from Indonesia, China, Singapore and Hong Kong with
200 players of varying shapes and sizes will be doing battle at International
Sports Club of Indonesia (ISCI) to win the coveted awards on offer including
highly sought after Best Drinking Team award.

This event though is more than just a few misshapen middle
aged men having a kick around on a Saturday afternoon. The aim is to showcase
the city of Jakarta and the visiting overseas teams will be invited on a tour
around some of the finest dining establishments the city has to offer in the
best way possible. By Kopaja mini bus during the Friday evening rush hour!

The day out at ISCI promises to be a memorable one. While
the hardy players run off their aching muscles and sweat out their alcohol
intake on the football pitch, spectators will have the full run of the ISCI
facilities including the swimming pool. There will also be a buffet available
and it is rumoured even a beer tent.

For younger visitors, there will be a bouncy castle along
with many other activities to keep them occupied and tired.

While the players take the odd break from their activities,
former Lokomotiv Moscow, Dukla Prague and Seattle Sounders professional
footballer Dale Mullholland will be holding a couple of coaching clinics where
kids can try and emulate their heroes on the pitch by pitting their ball control
skills against their peers.

At the end of a long day, there will be an awards ceremony,
without the lengthy speeches they are normally associated with in these parts,
before everyone piles on the bus and head to Kemang for a night of frivolity
and fun.

Hong Kong has its world famous sevens rugby tournament,
perhaps the BuGils 6s is setting the stage for Indonesia’s very own annual
sporting event! Certainly, organiser Jasper Bouman says the day should be a fun
day out for all the family and offers the city of Jakarta an opportunity to
showcase its unique attractions to the outside world.

Indonesia U19s Face Myanmar Double

Indonesia's U19s continue their tiring preparations for the AFC U19 Championshios later this year with a couple of friendlies against Myanmar.

The games will be played at Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on 5 and 7 May. The second game will be played behind closed doors...considering the cost of hiring the 88,000 capacity stadium, surely better, and cheaper, to use a smaller stadium in the city?

But will people turn up for the game on 5 May? The PSSI have cranked up the prices for a friendly match featuring the national U19 team...

In other national team news, the PSSI have announced, in their wisdom, Indonesia's U23s will play Dominican Republic in Solo on 15 May, the full international team. This is because Indonesia play ASEAN All Stars and obviously that must be the priority...I guess. Or not. As the case may be. Or may not.

Tampines Rovers v Albirex Niigata 1-1

Both Tampines and warriors had the opportunity to gain ground on the SLeague leaders DPMM over the last couple of evenings but both failed to take the opportunity leaving Steve Kean and his merry band to celebrate in Sharia ruled Brunei with lashings of fizzy pop.

Going into the game with a new coach, Tampines fell behind when Shuhei Hotta gave the visitors, who seemed to have more fans than the champions and supposed home team, an early lead.

Tampines certainly had the possession and chances, hitting the wordwork twice but they left late before Luis Alberto Closa dorve home from outside the area after Albirex had failed to clear a corner.

After the game there was a stand up argument between the announcer guy and one of the Tampines fans. No idea what it was about but to be honest was more entertaining than most of the guy. Lucky the announcer had turned the public address system off or the Clementi air would have turned blue!

There was another incident off the field that saw five officials tell one photographer to move. Five!

In the other game that noght, Geylang International drew 1-1 with Tanjong Pagar at Bedok Stadium. Felice Ezequiel equalised seven minutes from the end to keep the Eagles unbeaten run under Jorg Steinbrunner going.

Last night saw the Uniform Derby between Homes United and Warriors and I must admit I had been looking forward to this game...except I had to fly home and missed the bloody thing!

Alex Weaver seems to be putting together a pretty tasty squad at Chua Chu Kang way and the club were riding high in the league. And, in a Jakarta Casual exclusive, I can reveal that Weaver was at the Tampines game and sat for awhile with some of his players where they discussed...babies. Yep, you just don't get this kind of stuff in the mainstream media!

Fat lot of good it did them. They were thumped 4-1 by inconsistent Home.Fazrul Nawaz continued his fine start to the season, giving Home the lead on 12 minutes but Hafiz Rahman equalised half way through the first half.

The veteran Indra Sahdan scored twice in six minutes to set Home up for a memorable win and that Brazilian guy with a Japanese name scored to make in 4-1 in the last minute.

The Home United coach had come under the microscope in recent weeks for some frankly odd decisions regarding playing players out of position but I guess if the team can win like this then the complaints will die down.

Another shock in the other game with Young Lions winning 3-0 at Hougang United!

Thursday, May 01, 2014

PSIS Make It Four Straight Wins

PSIS made it four wins out of four after winning 2-1 at PPSM. For a change, Julio what's his name did not score but it didn't matter 'cos Muhammed Yunos did which I guess means the pioneer of micro finance in Bangladesh has found a new career away from their whacky politics. Good crowd there as well, 7,600 including a large away following.

Persikad continued their own pretty unique start to the campaign. They drew 0-0 away to Persisko and they now have drawn all four of their opening games, scoring just twice. Pop quiz, hot shots. How many goals have they conceded?! It was Persisko's first point of the season!

Two rebranded clubs met in Samarinda. Last season they would have met in Bangkalan! Pusamania Borneo, formerly known as Perseba Super, defeated Kalteng Putra, formerly known as Persepar, 2-1 in a Borneo derby. What is interesting for dullards and anoraks like me is the crowd was just over 1,000...I thought the whole point of Borneo was to be a fan owned club objecting against the politics of Pusam yet both teams got crap crowds in their last home games.

The Yogya derby ended blankety blank. PSS drew 0-0 with PSIM in front of 15,000 plus fans and PSIM warning it could be their last game of the season as they have no money...a common tactic here Im afraid. Makes you wonder, dunnit. They have a verification process before the season starts, don't they check the club's finances?!

In the Sidoarjo derby, Persida came out on top and moved top of the group after a 2-1 win over their bigger, brasher rivals Deltras. Just 4,300 bothered attending. Makes you wonder about all that loyaltis tanpa batas you keep reading and hearing about doesn't it?

Finally Cyril, Persis defeated Persip 1-0 in front of just shy of 8,000 with an injury time penalty. Who'd have thought that, eh?

Persik's Mini Revival Hits Skids

It has certainly been a funny few days in the Indonesia Super League. Persik, for example followed their win over Persija, their first of the season, by thumping a strangely off colour Sriwijaya 5-1 at the Brawijaya Stadium.

Guy Bertrand gave them an early lead from the spot and a second Rendi Irawan Saputra made it 2-0 at half time. The visitors pulled one back just before the hour mark through Asri Akbar. But three late goals from Syaiful Indra Cahaya, Qischil Minny and Faris Aditman completed the rout.

After the game, Sriwijaya were less than complimentary about the match officials and perhaps for good reason. They had two players sent off!

But the White Tigers were unable to continue their improved form when they travelled to Barito Putra. The Banjarmasin side defeated them 3-0after a 15 minute burst halfway through the first half. Sahroni hit two while James Koko Lomell hit the other.

Pelita Bandung Raya won the Bandung derby, overcoming Persib 1-0 at Jalak Harupat Stadium thanks to a goal from TA Mushafry early in the second half. I am guessing PBR's attempts to find new supporters must be paying off as the game attracted 9,000 fans and let's face it. Persib fans are banned from travelling to away games so they wouldn't have gone, would they?!

Arema returned to winning ways after defeating Semen Padang 1-0 away thanks to Thierry GGatthueiss second half goal while in the eastern conference, leaders Persela were defeated 3-0 at Pusam but remain top after Persipura were held 0-0 away to Persiram in the Papua derby that was played in Yogyakarta!

DPMM Claim Another Victory

The DPMM juggernaut shows no sign of easing up. Last night, they defeated Woodlands Wellington 2-0 up in the wilds of north Singapore with goals from Rodrigo Antonio Tosi, penalty, and Azwan Rahman.

The three points puts the Brunei side five points clear at the top of the SLeague with an almost unassailable goal difference of plus 21.

Unfortunately, I missed the game having been put through the industrial world of a local hospital in the morning. I went in a normal human being and came out a quivering automaton shorn of independent thorn and minus several hundred dollars from my wallet.

For Steve Kean's men though, the future is rosy as they gallop towards their first ever SLeague title. And for Kean, perhaps vindication of his decision to join a team in the unfancied league after a harrowing spell at Blackburn Rovers.

Before taking the reigns in Brunei, the Scots coach says he was approached by Chelsea to work as an assistant to the then incoming Jose Mourinho but he opted for the sultry climes of South East Asia rather than the dour reality of Jose's 19th century interpretation of the game.

With Tampines dropping points last time out, DPMM, despite having played a game more, sit comfortably five points clear of their nearest challengers and in their current form will take some stopping.